Tag: Netflix

Tales form the Orchard: Apple Nabs Oprah in Latest A-List Grab

 

 

By Kimberly Roots of TVLine.com

Apple just got OWN’d.

Oprah Winfrey has entered a multi-year content partnership with the tech company, Apple announced Friday.

The producer/actress/talk-show host/force of nature will join Apple in creating “original programs that embrace her incomparable ability to connect with audiences around the world,” per the official release.

Winfrey’s projects will be part of Apple’s robust slate of original content, which includes a Reese Witherspoon/Jennifer Aniston-starring series set at a morning talk show, a comedy featuring Hailee Steinfeld as poet Emily Dickinson, and dramas from directors Damien Chazelle (La La Land) and M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense). The tech giant has also ordered the thriller Are You Sleeping, headlined by Octavia Spencer, and an untitled Kristen Wiig comedy, both executive-produced by Witherspoon.

Winfrey’s national TV career began with her daytime gabfest The Oprah Winfrey Show; her Harpo Productions company are responsible for Dr. Phil, The Dr. Oz Show and Rachael Ray. She founded the cable network OWN, of which she is CEO and chairman, in 2011.

At the Golden Globes ceremony in January, she was awarded the Cecil B. DeMille award and accepted with a speech that many hoped hinted at a future presidential bid. (Winfrey later said that she was not interested in running for office.)

“For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dare to speak their truth to the power of [brutally powerful] men,” Winfrey said in her remarks. “But their time is up… A new day is on the horizon! And when that day finally dawns, it will be because of a lot of magnificent women… and some pretty phenomenal men, fighting hard to make sure that… nobody ever has to say, ‘Me too’ again!”

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Tips & Tricks: 13 Roku tricks you should try right now

Your Roku streamer can do a lot more than you might think. These are some of the coolest tips we’ve tried.

 

 

BY Rick Broida of CNet

Is there a more widely beloved tech product than the Roku streamer? Whether yours is a stick or box, it delivers virtually unparalleled video goodness to your TV: Netflix, Hulu, HBO and so on.

And, yet, it could be better. That onscreen keyboard? Bleh. The default interface theme? Room for improvement. Below I’ve rounded up 13 ways to improve your Roku experience, from organizing channels to watching iTunes movies to adding TV-control buttons to the Roku remote.

Use your phone as your Roku keyboard

Is there anything more aggravating than using a remote to operate an onscreen keyboard? Just signing in to, say, your Netflix account can be a slow, agonizing affair, to say nothing of searching for actors or movies.

Thankfully, there’s an easy fix: Use your phone instead. As you probably know, the Roku apps (iOS | Android) can take the place of your Roku remote, but they also provide a keyboard that makes data entry significantly faster and easier.

So anytime you land at your Roku’s onscreen keyboard on your TV, whether for a search or sign-in, just run the app, tap Remote and then tap the keyboard icon near the bottom of the screen. Now you can tap-type! Or, power tip, tap the keyboard’s microphone icon and “type” your entry using your voice. Speaking of which…

Use your phone for voice search

You know what’s even faster than a keyboard? The spoken word. If you’re lucky enough to have a current-generation Roku, you may have discovered the joys of voice search, which you can operate via the Roku remote.

Don’t own one of those models? No problem: The Roku app now offers voice-search capabilities of its own. So instead of tapping out, say, “Leonardo DiCaprio” to find his available movies (and risk spelling it wrong), you can just tap the Search option, then Voice, and actually say, “Leonardo DiCaprio.”

Stream media from your phone or tablet

Want to show everyone the photos and videos you took at the recent wedding, graduation, soccer game or zombie escape room? Don’t gather them around your relatively tiny phone or tablet; gather them around the TV instead. The Roku app lets you cast photos, videos and music from your mobile device to your streamer.

Just fire up the app and tap Play On Roku. Choose the kind of media you want to stream, then the specific media. Presto! Big-screen viewing from your small(er)-screen device.

Want to take this a step further? You can also mirror your smartphone or tablet to your Roku device.

Turn your Roku remote into a universal remote

I really like the design of the Roku remote, especially those that have shortcut buttons to the likes of Netflix and Amazon. What I don’t like: You can’t program a Roku remote to control your TV.

But you can program a Sideclick. Available for a variety of streamers (including Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV), this clever add-on (with the best name ever) clips to the side of your Roku remote and adds a row of handy programmable buttons: power, volume up/down, channel up/down, input and A/B (these last available for whatever functions you want).

The Sideclick starter kit for Roku sells for $30 and comes with four adapter clips to accommodate the majority of Roku remotes. It’s a pretty nice option for anyone tired of juggling remotes.

Organize your channels

 

The more channels you add to your Roku library, the bigger a jumbled mess they get. If you’re forever scrolling all over the place to find the handful of channels you visit most, you’ve probably wished for some way to reorganize them.

This is that way: Find a channel you want to relocate — let’s say HBO Now — and highlight it with your remote. (Don’t actually select it, just move the cursor over it so it’s highlighted.) Next, press the Option button on your remote (it looks like an asterisk), then choose Move Channel. Now use the direction pad to move the icon where you want it, noting how others move out of the way as you go.

Once you’ve found the perfect spot, press OK to complete the process. Repeat as necessary.

Reorganize channels in the Roku app

A recent update to the Roku app added a great feature: a Channels screen, similar to what you see on your TV. It makes for much faster access to your favorite channels.
However, it’s not immediately obvious how to organize those channels. That’s because you can’t actually do so within the app: You have to hit up your actual Roku on your TV. Then just follow the steps outlined in Organize your channels, above. Or, if you want more detail, check out How to organize your channels in the new Roku 4.0 app.

Choose a new theme

Not a fan of Roku’s default interface theme? That’s OK, not everyone loves purple. If you venture into the Settings menu and choose Themes, you’ll see a handful of other options.

Even better, select Get More Themes, which will bring you to the Roku Channel Store’s Themes collection. (You can also browse them online if you prefer.) Here you’ll find several dozen other options, everything from golf to Garfield to Star Trek. Alas, these add-ons aren’t free: <ost range from 99 cents to $2.99.

Install a screensaver

 

Tired of that Roku logo bouncing around whenever your streamer sits idle for a while? Why not choose a screensaver that’s a little more interesting?
As with selecting a theme, you can head to the Settings menu and then choose

Screensaver for a handful of other options. (If you’ve already chosen a different theme, you may see other screensaver options already. Nebula, for example, offers a digital clock in place of the bouncing Roku logo.)

And, again, you can head to the Channel Store to find lots of other screensavers: aquariums, animated fireplaces, headlines from “The Onion,” even a Nixie Clock. A handful are free; most will cost you a buck or two.

Rename your Rokus

If you have more than one Roku device, it makes sense to assign each one a name — if only to simplify things when using the Roku app. It’s a lot easier to switch between, say, “Bedroom Roku” and “Living Room Roku” than it is “Roku 2” and “Roku 3.”

Curiously, however, you can’t do this from within the app. Instead, you need to sign into my.roku.com, then head to the My Account page. Scroll down a bit to see a list of your connected devices, then click Rename next to the one you want to change. Not sure which is which? You can actually refer to the app for this; tap Settings > Switch Device for a list of connected Rokus (and their convenient accompanying pictures), then look for the serial number. Match that to what you see on the Web portal.

Install private channels

Everyone knows about Roku’s Netflix, Hulu and other mainstream channels, but your streamers also support the addition of private channels.

Is that code for “adult”? Yes and no. Although adult channels do exist for Roku, you can find a variety of family-friendly options at sources like Roku-Channels.com, RokuGuide.com, StreamFree.tv and RokuChannels.tv.

One cool option: The Silent Movie Channel, which offers selections from the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Rudolph Valentino.

To add it, head to Roku’s My Account page in your browser (as described in the previous tip), click Add a Channel, then enter the code ROLLEM.

The channel should get automatically added to your Roku device within the next 24 hours, but you should be able to force it by going to the Channel Store on your Roku, then exiting back out to the main menu.

Find a lost Roku remote

Much as I like the design of the Roku remote, the size can be a problem: It goes missing that much more easily. The Bermuda Triangle has nothing on my couch cushions.

Fortunately, if you own a Roku 4 ($63.99 at Amazon Marketplace) or Roku Ultra, there’s a fast way to find your remote. (Assuming, of course, you can still find the Roku itself. Gotta be somewhere near the TV.) Both models have a button on top; press it and your remote will make a sound.

Want to learn how to choose what sound it makes? Check out Quickly find a lost Roku remote with this trick.

Watch movies from your iTunes library

If you live in the Apple ecosystem, you know that owning a Roku means forgoing any movies you’ve purchased via iTunes. After all, it’s not like Apple offers a Roku channel.

Thankfully, there’s Movies Anywhere. This free tool puts all your movies under one roof, so to speak, meaning you can now use a single Roku app to access movies from your Amazon, Google, iTunes and Vudu accounts. Obviously you could already access Amazon, Google and Vudu movies on your Roku via their respective apps, but Movies Anywhere brings iTunes into that mix and saves you from having to remember which movie is located where.

Listen in private with private listening

One of Roku’s best features is private listening, which allows you to stream audio through a remote or your phone to your favorite headphones. That’s great for your half-deaf relative who would normally need to crank the TV volume to house-shattering levels, or for your elliptical workouts where you can’t hear the TV over the sound of the machinery.

The Roku 3, Roku Premiere+, Roku 4 and Roku Ultra all come with a remote that has a built-in headphone jack, by far the easiest option. (Pro tip: If you plug in, remember to unplug when you’re done. Headphones will continue to draw power even when you’re not using the Roku, making it quite likely you’ll return to a dead set of remote batteries.)

But all current-gen models, from the Roku Express to the Roku Ultra, also support private listening via the Roku app. This works with both wired and wireless headphones; just fire up the app and tap the headphones icon to switch from TV speakers to private listening.

And there you go! Thirteen cool ways to improve your Roku experience.

Hit the comments and share your favorite tips!

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Weekly Round Up 8/11

 

 

I’m gonna file this under “Doh!”
How to get fired in the tech industry


And the backlash continues…
Tech leaders must stop treating humanity like computer code

 


I’m ashamed to admit to owning most of the items on this list.
9 tech crazes that made us lose our minds in the ’90s

 


Everything old is new again.
3 Things Women in Tech Must Do to Get Ahead

 


Why didn’t they just buy Netflix?
Disney bought baseball’s tech team to take on Netflix

 


Shouldn’t this guy be in jail already?
Martin Shkreli’s ‘stealthy’ tech start-up has a website and says it’s starting to test products

 


What the WHAT?!
Wild new microchip tech could grow brain cells on your skin

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How to: Use your Mac’s screen as an Apple TV

 

 

By CHARLIE SORREL of Cult Of Mac

You have a big 27-inch iMac sitting on the desk in the corner of your living room office, and yet you’re over there on the couch watching a movies on your iPhone or iPad. Wouldn’t it be great if you could beam one to the other, like sending video from an iPhone to an Apple TV? The good news is that you totally can, just by installing an app on your Mac. There are several available, but today we’ll use my favorite, Reflector.

AirPlay for your Mac

 

Reflector 2 is a media-receiving app which works with AirPlay and Google Cast, and is available for Mac, Android, and Windows. It has some other tricks, like allowing you to stream your iOS video live to YouTube, and to record video and audio using your Mac’s microphone and camera. But today we’ll be seeing how to do one simple thing: steaming video from your iPhone (or iPad) to your Mac’s big screen.

First, you should download Reflector 2. The full version costs $15, and the app runs as a free trial with a watermark over the screen. This trial is one of the reasons I like Reflector over other options like AirServer, because AirServer’s “free” trial requires you to give them your email address. Also, AirServer never works on my Mac.

After installing Reflector 2 (which requires a restart), you’re ready to go. If you ever used AirPlay or Apple TV to stream video or music, you’ll be familiar with using Reflector 2. That’s because it works by turning your Mac into an AirPlay receiver. Your iDevice requires no special software. Your Reflector-running Mac just shows up as a standard AirPlay device on the network.

Using Reflector to stream video

 

This is the easy part. To watch a movie or YouTube video on your Mac, just play it on your iPhone, tap the little AirPlay sharing icon (the triangle in the rectangle), and choose your Reflector-running Mac in the pop-up list. Because it is masquerading as an Apple TV, you’ll see an Apple TV icon, with the same name as your Mac. Then you tap this icon, wait a couple of seconds, and your video (and sound) will appear on your Mac’s screen. You can now sit back and enjoy a movie, or whatever. And remember, because this is AirPlay, it has other uses too. A visitor to your home can run a slideshow of their photos from their iPhone, for example, or make a Keynote presentation the same way.

That’s it — more or less. You may find that the window on the Mac is not running full screen, or that the name of your iDevice is displayed at the top of the window. This last — the name of the sending device — is there to help out in offices and classrooms. It tells you who is beaming to the device right now. This isn’t so useful at home, so let’s switch it off, as well as making the full-screen the default display.

Customizing the video

 

First, let’s switch off the pesky name displayed at the top of the screen. On the Mac, open up Reflector’s preferences
Reflector > Preferences…, or (Command-comma). Then, under General, change the Show Client Name popover to Off.

 

Next, we’ll tell Reflector to always open video in full-screen. Click on the next section in the app’s preferences: Connection. Here you can set the Default Scale to Fill Screen, and toggle Show Frame (which shows the video framed with a picture of an iPhone or iPad).

 

That’s about it for settings, but as you’re in here, click around to see what else can be changed. I switched off support for Google Cast, as well as support for related apps form Reflector’s developer, AirSquirrels.

Airplay apps

 

When researching this post, I looked into several other apps, but settled on Reflector because it works, because it looks good, and because the company behind it seems to be in the game for the long term. I’ve tried the main rival, AirServer, extensively in the past, even buying it (twice), but I could never get it to work properly. Video would fail to appear, or the iPad end of the equation wouldn’t work out. Between that and the aggressive trial mode, I’d avoid AirServer. Reflector, on the other hand, just works — even on my 2010-vintage iMac.

 

What’s your favorite way to stream? Tell us about it in the comments below!!

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How to: Fix the 5 Most Common Apple TV Problems

 

 

Previously posted by CNET

The Apple TV is a very capable streamer that has only gotten better over time with the addition of things like the Siri remote, applications and a TV guide. Still, the Apple TV is not impervious to problems. Here are five common problems with the Apple TV and how to fix them.

Just like with your smart phone, things can go awry with apps on Apple TV, they can sometimes lag or freeze up all together. If anything like this happens, the best thing to do is to force close the application. To do this, on the Siri remote Double press the Home or TV button, slide left or right on the touchpad to select that app and then swipe up to force close it.


Sometimes it’s more than just one app that’s acting funky or the Apple TV can act glitchy in general, just not right. If this is the case, then you just need to restart the Apple TV, you can do this by going into Settings > System > Restart or on the Apple TV remote You can hold Menu and the TV or Home button until the light on the front of the Apple TV begins blinking. When this happens release those buttons and the Apple TV will restart.

If the Siri remote just randomly stops working or doesn’t work at all one day it may need to be charged. You can charge it using a lightning cable in the port along the bottom edge of the remote. And you can also actually also check its charge level under remotes and devices in the Settings. You may need to use an iPhone or an iPad in the remote app to get there. If that doesn’t work, you may need to reset the remote and repair it with your Apple TV To do this, hold the remote near the Apple TV and hold the Volume Up and Menu button for a few seconds, and it should repair.

Every so often, audio on the Apple TV will cut out. Obviously this depends heavily on what your own sound system set up is, but if it happens to you, try restarting the TV and any audio hardware connected to the Apple TV such as a sound bar. That should fix the problem but if not try restarting the Apple TV. If that doesn’t work, go to settings, audio and video, and make sure you’ve selected the right speakers under audio output. And then in Audio Mode, make sure it’s set to Auto.

If you’ve installed a lot of applications and games on your Apple TV, storage space might get tight over time. The obvious solution is to remove some of those apps and games. If you do this from he home screen, it’s gonna take quite a few steps for every single application you want to remove. Highlight the application on the home screen that you want to remove. And long-press on the track pad until it starts to wiggle. Then, press the “play/pause” button. Select “delete” and then select “delete” again to confirm. If you’re trying to remove several applications at once, a faster option is to go to “settings”, “general”, and “manage storage’. There you’ll find applications sorted by file size in descending order Think the trash can to the right of any application to remove it and then click delete to confirm.

What are your favorite Apple TV hacks? Let us know in the comments below.

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How to: record live TV without a cable subscription using Plex DVR

 

 

Cord cutters, you too can record your favorite live TV shows and watch them whenever you want, thanks to Plex DVR!

Ladies,

Netflix changed the game. Hulu stepped up next and cord cutting became the next big thing. I sort of evolved my viewing habits out of scheduling necessity for my work without even realizing it. A few years ago I realized I was watching all of my favorite programs on the internet the day after it broadcast or I’d wait until the season was over and binge the entire thing. And speaking of binging, Netflix smartly releases the entire season of it’s shows at once for fuel the binge hunger of people like me. I discovered the genius of the Plex Media Server a while ago and have since cut the cord in my life. For those of you who are still on the live broadcast bandwagon, this article is for you. It could save you up to $200 a month in cable fees if you decide to make the switch, so, it’s worth the read…

 

By Lory Gil of iMore

 

I’m always looking for ways to maximize my TV watching experience. That’s why Plex DVR is a fantastic service for cord cutters like me. Combined with HDHomeRun and an HDTV antenna, I can record live broadcast television and watch it at my leisure, just like my cable subscribing friends do with their DVR. You can too. Here’s how.

  • What you need
  • How to set up Plex DVR on your Mac or PC
  • How to record your favorite live TV shows
  • How to watch your recorded live TV on Plex

What you need

Plex is a media server that you can load your movies, music, and photos onto. You can then watch, listen to, or view that content across any supported device with the Plex app. Plex DVR is a feature in the Plex Pass subscription that lets you record and watch free digital broadcast channels so you can also watch TV any time across your supported devices. You’ll need a few things before you can set up Plex DVR:

  • An HDHomeRun device with an HDTV antenna set up in your home
  • Plex Media Player on your Mac
  • A Plex Pass subscription
  • A hard drive with enough space to record your shows

Make sure you have your HDHomeRun set up and the Plex Media Server on your Mac before you try to use Plex DVR to scan for channels in your home.

 

How to set up Plex DVR on your Mac

Once you have everything you need, you’ll have to connect your HDHomeRun transmitter to your Plex so it can scan your channels and create a program guide for you.
1 Launch the Plex Media Server on your Mac.
2 Sign in to your account.
3 Click on Settings in the menu on the left.
4 Click on DVR(Beta) in the menu on the left.

 

 


5 Click on DVR Setup.
6 Select your HDHomeRun when it appears in the setup window.

 


7 Click Continue.
8 Click Continue after Plex scans your digital channels. If some channels are missing, you can scan for channels again.
9 Enter your language preference.
10 Enter your postal/zip code (for the purpose of adding a program guide).
11 Click Continue. You will be presented with a list of every channel available for you to watch live TV with.
12 De-select any channels you don’t want to add to Plex and then click Continue.

 

 

How to record your favorite live TV shows

After Plex DVR is finished creating your programming guide, you can begin scheduling and recording shows.
1 Launch the Plex Media Server on your Mac.
2 Sign in to your account.
3 Click on Program Guide in the menu on the left.
4 Click on a TV show episode or movie you want to record.

 


5 Click Record from the item’s summary page.
6 Click the red record button right on the image to record an entire season of a show. This will trigger a window to pop out.
7 Select All Episodes from the drop down menu under Record.


Continue this process until you have scheduled recordings for every movie or TV show you want to watch at your leisure.

How to watch your recorded live TV on Plex

Once a TV show or movie is finished recording, it will automatically appear in your Plex library. From the Plex app on any of your devices, you can log in and select the recorded content from your Movies or TV Shows library. It’s simple!

 

Any questions?
Do you have any questions about how to set up Plex DVR and record live TV shows and movies to watch at your leisure? Put them in the comments and I’ll help you out!

 

 

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Weekly RoundUp -2/17

 

Ladies,

Here are my favorite tech stories from the week. Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Apple Will Fight ‘Right to Repair’ Legislation
This story, to me, is ridiculous. Why any lay person would want to take apart and fix their own iPhone is beyond me. I’ve been trained to do so and believe me, it f*cking sucks. Let the professionals handle it, I beg you.


Apple debuts ‘Planet of the Apps’ trailer for new Apple Music series
If this is the best in the way of orginial content Apple has to offer, Netflix has nothing to worry about.

Tech boards in dire need of women’s touch
I’m going to file this one under “Duh!”. I’ve been saying this for years…

Why Facebook could be where you find your next tech job
Watch out, Linkedin. Facebook is coming for ya.

How Ashton Kutcher is building tech to fight child sex traffickers
You may not like him as an actor, but you have to respect him as a man. Well done, Mr. Kutcher.

Cyber steers clear of tech vs. Trump feud

This could get ugly.

Tech groups gear up for FISA surveillance fight
I have a feeling the fear of bad hombre’s will eventually win out.

The Female Governors’ Summit aims to get more girls into tech

Yay! More of this, please!

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Netflix Tips You Need In Your Life

 

Ladies,

In the spirit of a winter weekend with no football, I thought I’d give you a few tips to help you Netflix & Chill.

This article was originally posted on TNW by Trevor Nace

“Trends in popular software come and go, but it’s pretty clear at this point which ones are sticking around for the long haul. How else do you end up with the cultural jargon “Netflix and Chill” being so widely accepted? I’m fairly certain you’ve never heard anybody say, “Hulu and Chill.” “Youtube and Chill?” “HBO Now and…” yeah, you get the picture.


Netflix is the premium streaming service for films and television shows, and even though its primary competitors are doing just fine in their own right, there’s almost no way for them to close the distance with this media behemoth.

It helps that a great majority of Netflix’s original programming has been met with critical acclaim, many times over. Daredevil. Jessica Jones. Orange is the New Black. House of Cards. The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Fans of Arrested Development, Full House, and Gilmore Girls can all thank Netflix for picking up the threads of where their favorite shows left off, delivering new content available exclusively through the streaming service.

While Amazing Video and Hulu have certainly been playing the same ballgame, neither can boast the profile or namesake that Netflix now claims amongst its users. From the forecast of upcoming content that we’ll soon be seeing from Netflix, that paradigm isn’t likely to shift anytime soon.

Still, just because a service is popular doesn’t mean that every nuance of operating it is visible, right on its service. People have criticism in abundance for Netflix, and much of it has to do with streaming, organization, geoboundaries (more on this, later) and the ways that different devices and web browsers seem to affect the playback of Netflix content.

Crafty users have found a way around most of this complaints, and below, I’ll share ten of the most frequently used (but infrequently known) tricks that will help you to become truly Netflix-savvy. (I can’t help with the “chill” part. That’s on you, friends.)

HIDDEN SUBCATEGORIES


I’ll admit, I find Netflix’s content organization to be borderline atrocious.

Sure, you can find your way into genre-sorted listings of all available films and television shows, but by and large, the landing screen that always greets you upon signing in is a damned mess. Instead of a simplified, streamlined listing of content we see “Romance-fueled horror thrill-ride movies” or “Funny splatter-fests that will melt your heart.”

You’re not the only person that’s been left scratching their head, wondering how to wade through it all.
Thankfully, there’s a way to take advantage of this organization scheme for your benefit. See, those odd genre amalgamations aren’t just for you, and they’re not just for show. They’re actually specifically compiled lists that you can drag up on demand…as long as you know how. Head over to the Netflix ID Bible and check out the immense list of subcategories that are available to view.

It works like this. Take your base URL of ‪http://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/INSERTNUMBER‬, and replace the obvious part of that URL with one of the subcategories that you’d like to view. For example, if you want to watch Asian Action Movies, the finished URL would be ‪http://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/77232‬.

Easy, right?

Take advantage of this trick whenever you’re feeling digitally peckish, but don’t know what to watch.

CUSTOMIZE YOUR SUBTITLES


One of Netflix’s fantastic features is the huge library of foreign-language films that it constantly offers. However, unless you’re fluent in the languages that you’ll be hearing, subtitles are going to become your best buddy.


Raise your hand if you’ve ever been irritated by the size or font style of Netflix’s subtitles.

Well, my hand is up, but if you haven’t been yet, there’s a chance you might be in the future. It’s handy to know that you can change those settings as often as you want from within your Netflix settings. Simply click into your account, then scroll to the bottom of the list of settings. Select “Subtitle Appearance” and be amazed by how much you can customize them!

Don’t get stuck squinting at your screen ever again.

CUSTOMIZE YOURSTREAMING QUALITY

 

360p. 720p. 1080p. 4k. The list of increasing streaming resolutions is getting a bit mind-boggling, but what stands to boggle the mind even more is how these settings can affect your viewing experience.
Whether you’re on a slower internet connection at home or using your mobile data to catch a quick television episode, this is one of the most important things that you can learn to customize. (Your patience and your phone bill will both thank you.)


Once again, from within your account settings, scroll down until you find the “Playback Setting” option. From within that menu, you can choose between several preset data-usage ranges, from automatic (which selects it for you, based on connection speed) and high (which enables HD and Ultra HD playback.)

Even if you have a blazing fast mobile connection, however, the GB of data used to stream HD or Ultra HD are going to chew through your data allowance uncomfortably quick. Additionally, if your home internet connection is being particularly sluggish, try reducing the playback settings to accommodate it.


GETFLIX (SKIP GEOBLOCKING)

There are a few justified reasons for geo-blocking, but they have never mattered that much to Netflix users who just want to be able to view the same content as Netflix users in other countries. US availability in particular is often desired by viewers in other countries, and through clever DNS routing, Getflix can get you past the usual IP address blockade and give you access to Netflix (and more!)
The only catch? It’s going to cost you if you want to keep on using it.


Though each pricing bundle comes with a 14-day free trial, you’ll need to pay a recurring monthly subscription fee to maintain the service.

In my opinion, the added entertainment value you’ll get for such a small investment is totally worth it.

WATCH NETFLIX TOGETHER

Long distance relationships are difficult. Whether we’re talking friendship or romance, sometimes its nice to spend a few hours watching something good with a person who means a lot to you, but buffering times and stream availability can make this difficult, resulting in out-of-sync viewing experiences and more frustration than fun.


Though a few online web portals and apps purport being able to fix this, the best of them is Rabbit. Get signed up, then start enjoying shared viewing experiences again.

It even has pretty stellar chat support, so you and your dearest can yak it up while the movie is playing.

USE MULTIPLE PROFILES


Most assume that the ability to create multiple profiles for your Netflix account is only useful when multiple members of a household are using it, but this isn’t true! There’s one other handy organization tip that I can give you, and it revolves completely around the way that Netflix profiles work.

Some may not realize it, but the viewing recommendations that Netflix gives you are based on what you’ve viewed on a particular account. This works great for separate people using separate accounts, but you can also use it to shape the recommendations that you want to see based on other circumstances.
Let’s say, you want certain movies to show up as options for “date night.” Make an account for it! Your viewing experience on your “date night” profile will lead to you finding more films and television shows that are applicable to that occasion.

What about those times when you want to sit down for a couple of hours and watch a documentary? Make a “Documentaries” profile, during which you only watch informative, interesting content.
Your recommendations are going to follow suit.

 

ONLY WATCH THE BEST


You’re cuddled up on the sofa (alone or with company; it’s the sofa that’s important, right?), and you want to know what’s new, what’s good, and what’s available to watch. Where do you turn? You could do a quick search for “Best Movies On Netflix” and hope you snag a new favorite movie to watch.
Netflix’s “star rating” system is notoriously unreliable, and thankfully, crafty Netflixers have stepped up to provide a service that will help you out.

Though many like it are available, I find Best Movies On Netflix (What is On Netflix?) to be the best place to look.

With it, you can see what’s recently been added to the streaming service, and also use common directories and other resources to determine whether or not a particular film or television show is any good, in the first place.

LISTEN TO THE CRITICS

I already mentioned how widely unreliable Netflix’s rating system can be for finding the content that you want to watch, but thankfully, there’s a way around that particular problem. As long as you’re browsing from a web browser, you can use extensions like NEnhancer to add a great deal more information to each listing in your Netflix queue. Imagine being able to see IMDb information, trailers, Rotten Tomatoes reviews, and more without ever having to leave Netflix.

Though the Netflix algorithms are good at some things, it can be decidedly difficult to figure out what exactly you’re in the mood to watch.

Take out a little bit of the guesswork, reclaim some of that lost browsing time, and give NEnhancer a try.

KEEP TRACK OF WHAT’S COMING AND WHAT’S GOING


One thing that long time Netflixers know by now is the fact that what’s available is always changing. Movies and TV shows that have been around for a while hit the road, while new items are brought in.
One thing that Netflix doesn’t do a particularly good job of letting you know when all of these changes are taking place, which makes it hard to know when you’re running out of time to watch something. Inversely, it’s nice to know when you have upcoming content to look forward to.

There are quite a few online resources that will keep track for you. Whats-On-Netflix keeps up-to-date listings of what will soon be leaving the popular streaming service as well as what’s on the way.

CLEAR YOUR VIEWING HISTORY


This one might only apply to users that want a little bit more privacy than Netflix affords by default, but it’s absolutely possible to wipe your viewing history from your account. Whether you want to clear it all out or just remove certain items, it’s a simple process.

Pop back into your Netflix account settings, and once again, scroll down to the bottom where you can select “Viewing History.” From this menu, you’ll see a listing of every movie or television episode that you’ve recently watched on your Netflix account.

In addition to being able to report any problems you might have had while streaming, you can click the “X” off to the right to delete any entry that you’d like. Use this to keep your viewing history a little more clean, a little more concise, and a little more private.

Netflix is here to stay. We can make that claim with a fair amount of confidence, now that the service has weathered several competitors moving in on its offerings while still remaining on top.

Considering the surprising amount of hype that now surrounds and follows a majority of Netflix’s original programming, it’s hard to see any of this popularity taking a nosedive anytime soon.

That doesn’t mean the Netflix experience can’t stand to be enhanced, though. The above 10 tips are enough to get you started on the way to Netflix mastery.”

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